1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooling system having a radiator and the like included therein in a vehicle.
2. Description of the Background Art
There is a known structure in which a fan shroud is provided for surrounding a cooling fan behind a radiator. In this known design, as exemplified in Japanese published patent document JP-UM-A-1-162032, the fan shroud also covers the radiator. More specifically, in an area outside of the fan, the fan shroud of this reference entirely covers cooling fins of the radiator from the rear thereof.
In addition, an air-intake port (grill), provided for introducing a traveling wind in a vehicle, is generally arranged in front of the radiator. When considering the cooling property, in general terms, the larger the size of the air-intake port, the better.
However, in the case of relatively small vehicles (for example, off-road type small vehicles which are mainly intended to travel on rough terrains and are called Multipurpose Utility Vehicle (MUV), there is a limit to the size of the air-intake port with respect to the required capacity of the radiator, and as a result, flexibility of layout of the air-intake port is currently low. Therefore, the air-intake port, which is originally limited in size, may need to be further substantially downsized, depending on the layout of other components, and a sufficient size of the air-intake port for achieving sufficient cooling effect might not be secured. To be more specific, there is a case where an edge portion of a hood, arranged above the radiator, covers the front of the radiator, and hence the air-intake port must be reduced in size, whereby the surface area of the air-intake port is reduced by a corresponding amount.
In the structure according to Japanese published patent document JP-UM-A-1-162032, described above, there is a problem that the fan shroud entirely covers the radiator, and hence smooth passage of the travel wind is impaired when the fan is stopped, during travel or the like. When the structure as described above is employed in a vehicle having a small air-intake port with reduced cooling effect as described above, there arises a problem of further inhibiting the cooling effect. In other words, the problem of reduced cooling effect arises because smooth passage of the traveling wind is impaired by the fan shroud, in addition to being incapable of introducing sufficient airflow from the small air-intake port.
In view of such circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicular cooling system which is capable of cooling a radiator, more specifically, of satisfactorily passing air over cooling fins of the radiator, even in a vehicle in which an air-intake port, for introducing air into the radiator, must be made small.